"O Lórien! The Winter comes, the bare and leafless Day;The leaves are falling in the stream, the River flows away.O Lórien! Too long I have dwelt upon this Hither ShoreAnd in a fading crown have twined the golden elanor."

Contents

History

First Settlers

The first inhabitants of the forested area later known as Lórien were a group of Nandor that refused to cross the Hithaeglir. Lórien was probably one of their scattered settlements in the area; but there were no mellyrn in that time. Later, however, as the power of the Longbeards of Moria grew, they relocated to the eastern side of the Anduin, across from the Nimrodel. The land in which they dwelt (the forest east of the Hithaeglir, above Fangorn and below Mirkwood) became known in the Silvan tongue as Lórinand, or Laurelindórenan.

The Sindarin Dynasty

The coming of the Sindar was a great boost to the power and culture of the Nandor. The Silvan language was replaced by Sindarin. The arrival of one in particular affected the Nandor of Laurelindórenan: the coming of a Sinda named Amdír. He took over Laurelindórenan, while another Sinda, Oropher, became king of Greenwood the Great.

The survivors of the battle, which included Amdír’s son Amroth (and Celeborn, if he attended the battle), returned to Lórinand. Amroth was elected King. But Amroth tired of Middle-earth, and wished to go West and seek Valinor. When Moria fell to evil in 1981, many of the Lórinand elves fled south. At this time he departed to Edhellond with his beloved, Nimrodel. The Nandor never saw either of them again.

The Lord and Lady

After Amroth and Nimrodel had passed away, Celeborn and Galadriel took the title of Lord and Lady of Lothlórien, the common Sindarin name for Lórinand. With Nenya, the land was kept pure and alive, and evil was not permitted to penetrate it. They moved back to the western side of Anduin, and built Caras Galadhon, the great center of the woodland kingdom. There Galadriel planted the seeds of the mallorn trees she had brought with her from Lindon, where they grew not. Lothlórien was filled with light and life, and became beautiful. By the power of the Elven Ring the trees did not die.

Under the Lord and Lady Lothlórien prospered for more than a thousand years, time passing without decay under the golden boughs. Celeborn and Galadriel produced a daughter, Celebrían, and their granddaughter Arwen Undómiel was considered the fairest of the elven race. But as the Third Age began to grope for its culmination, troubles at last began to touch the Valley of Singing Gold. As the shadow of Sauron lengthened, and the War of the Ring was imminent, Lórien received eight weary and grief-stricken travelers from the lost mouth of Moria.

They were the remnants of the Fellowship of the Ring, a group of travelers on a quest of immeasurable importance. The border-wardens came across them on February 15, 3019. Among the company were Aragorn, a prince of the Dúnedain and a friend of the Lady, as well as Legolas of Mirkwood. The only reservation the border-wardens had about them was the dwarf, Gimli. They were led in blindfolded for a time, but at Galadriel’s word they were taken to Caras Galadhon and their eyes were released.

There the Elves learned of the death of Gandalf the Grey, and Galadriel knew what evil had been brought into the Golden Wood. She revealed her own ring to him, and showed him her mirror. Then the Fellowship was furnished with new supplies, and sent off down Anduin, bearing the gifts of the Lord and Lady.

War of the Ring

But the coming of the Ring of Power was only the beginning of their troubles. The very night the Fellowship arrived, a band of Orcs crossed the Nimrodel. A regiment or so of Nandor were sent out, and destroyed the Orcs. But they were only the heralds of greater conflicts that were to occur. Sauron unleashed his Rhovanion Campaign, which involved massive attacks on the Golden Wood.

On March 11, Orcs from Dol Guldur swarmed into the forest in a full-scale assault. By the power of the Wood-elves and Galadriel’s ring, they were repulsed. The second wave came on March 15, at the same time as the invasion of Mirkwood. Again, the Orcs were forced out. The third and last attack was made seven days later, March 22. They caused much destruction, but Celeborn led the Nandor in a great counterattack that routed them utterly. Boats were made, and the armies of Lórien crossed the Anduin. They stormed Dol Guldur (the Nazgûl being absent in the war to the south), and took it. Galadriel threw down its walls, and Mirkwood was cleansed. The southern part of Mirkwood fell into the dominion of Lothlórien, and it was called East Lórien.

Afterward

Only two years after the War of the Ring, Galadriel, the Lady of Lórien, took ship West to Valinor. Celeborn left to Rivendell several years later, and light departed from Lórien. The Nandor of that land either merged into the Kingdom of Eryn Lasgalen and Thranduil, or stayed in Lórien to fade and eventually pass away westward.

Locations

Caras Galadhon

Cerin Amroth

Cerin Amroth was a mound in Lothlórien where elanor grew beside niphredil. In the days of Amroth it was where the King built his house. It was one of the most beautiful places in Lórien, save perhaps for Caras Galadhon. There also Arwen fell in love with Aragorn, and they plighted their troth to one another.

Names

LothlórienS. "Lórien of the Blossom" (Treebeard translates it as "Dreamflower")